Cai, Beilei, 1979-
2009-02-12T23:09:11Z
2009-02-12T23:09:11Z
2008-09
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/8505
xi, 108 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Micro-level survey data are widely used in applied economic research. This dissertation, which consists of three empirical papers, demonstrates challenges in empirical research using micro-level survey data, as well as some methods to accommodate these problems.
Chapter II examines the effect of China's recent public health insurance reform on health utilization and health status. Chinese policy makers have been eager to identify how this reform, characterized by a substantial increase in out-of-pocket costs, has affected health care demand and health status. However, due to self-selection of individuals into the publicly insured group, the impact of the reform remains an unresolved issue. I employ a Heckman selection model in the context of difference-in-difference regression to accommodate the selection problem, and provide the first solid empirical evidence that the recent public health insurance reforms in China adversely affected both health care access and health status for publicly insured individuals.
Chapter III examines the construct validity of a stated preference (SP) survey concerning climate change policy. Due to the fact that the SP survey method remains a controversial tool for benefit-cost analysis, every part of the survey deserves thorough examination to ensure the quality of the data. Using a random utility approach, I establish that there is a great deal of logical consistency between people's professed attitudes toward different payment vehicles and their subsequent choices among policies which vary in the incidence of their costs.
Chapter IV employs the same survey data used in Chapter III, but demonstrates the potential for order effects stemming from prior attitude-elicitation questions. In addition, it considers the potential impact of these order effects on Willingness to Pay (WTP) estimates for climate change mitigation. I find the orderings of prior elicitation questions may change people's opinions toward various attributes of the different policies, and thereby increase or decrease their WTP by a substantial amount. Thus, this chapter emphasizes the significance of order effects in prior elicitation questions, and supports a call for diligence in using randomly ordered prior elicitation questions in stated preference surveys, to minimize inadvertent effects from any single arbitrary ordering.
Adviser: Trudy Ann Cameron
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2008;
Public health
Economics
Public health insurance
China
Health economics
Construct validity
Reform
Order effect
China's public health insurance
Stated preference
Sample selection
Environmental economics
Essays in health and environmental economics: Challenges in the empirical analysis of micro-level economic survey data
Thesis

Haraguchi, Kelii H., 1980-
2009-02-14T00:57:27Z
2009-02-14T00:57:27Z
2008-09
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/8521
xiii, 97 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
This dissertation consists of three essays that empirically address aspects of three common questions posed in the Mexican immigration literature: What characteristics define migrants from Mexico? How does US border-enforcement policy affect migrant behavior? What role does foreign direct investment (FDI) into Mexico play in altering incentives for migration to the United States?
The first essay (Chapter II) examines selection patterns of Mexican migrants based on migration frequency. Studies of Mexican migrant selection have largely ignored its temporary and repeated nature. In particular, the literature has not appropriately distinguished between migrants that travel to the United States only once and those who migrate multiple times. I model the selection process of repeat migrants in two stages: selection into initial migration and selection into repeat migration. Allowing for unobservable differences between non-migrants, single-episode migrants and repeat migrants, I find negative selection of repeat migrants relative to non-migrants and no significant differences between the unobservable attributes of repeat and single-episode migrants.
The second essay (Chapter III) addresses how border enforcement influences migrant behavior. Increases in border enforcement during the 1990s were distributed non-uniformly along the border, targeting regions believed to experience episodes of high volumes of illegal border crossings. I examine how geographic and time-series variation in annual border enforcement influences US destination choices for undocumented Mexican migrants. While increased enforcement diverts migrants to alternative crossing locations, I show that their final destinations tend to be robust to border enforcement. Thus, in terms of policy, there may be benefits to coordination in enforcement efforts across sectors.
The third essay (Chapter IV) addresses the claim that Mexico-bound FDI reduces immigration to the United States by increasing employment opportunities and raising Mexican wages. I use annual, state-level FDI from 1994 to 2004 to examine how FDI flows influence US-migration propensity. FDI flows reduce the probability of migration to the United States and increase the probability of an employment change in Mexico for non-migrants. Further, FDI is found to increase the likelihood of employment changes for household heads in Mexican states bordering the United States, but not the likelihood of employment in interior states.
Adviser: Glen R. Waddell
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2008;
Demography
Hispanic American studies
Ethnic studies
Economics
Foreign direct investment
Border enforcement
Illegal immigrants
Selection
Illegal
United States
Mexico
Labor economics
Immigration
Three essays on Mexican migration to the United States
Thesis

Herzog, Ryan William, 1981-
2009-05-15T23:51:18Z
2009-05-15T23:51:18Z
2008-12
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/9170
xiii, 160 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Feldstein and Horioka (1980) motivated the international finance literature by claiming a least squares regression of domestic investment rates on domestic savings rates is an informative measure of capital mobility. Their method stirred up controversy when they interpreted a high correlation between savings and investment rates as evidence of capital immobility, creating the famous Feldstein-Horioka puzzle. Current research starts with the Feldstein-Horioka result and shifts focus toward measuring short and long-run adjustments to external imbalances. The literature has implemented dynamic time-series and panel estimators to test the relationship. Following recent literature, each chapter in this dissertation jointly focuses on the adjustment process of current account imbalances and the conditions required for capital mobility.
The intent of this study is to show through the use of new estimation techniques previous results have been largely misguided. The starting point for this analysis is a thorough review of three key equations used in saving-investment regressions. The three models in question are an ordinary least squares model, error correction model, and an autoregressive distributive lag estimator. Each model is tested for stability, and it is found that a number of countries have an unstable relationship. One argument for the instability results is the presence of structural breaks. Previous literature has found that both variables follow non-stationary processes, but when using more powerful unit root tests and controlling for level shifts, both variables appear stationary. If each variable is stationary then previous methods assuming non-stationarity will produce incorrect inferences. Each series is optimally estimated for structural breaks, and through a mean differencing process the savings-investment coefficient is significantly reduced. Additionally, removing the exogenous breaks and using the lower frequency components allows for modeling the short-run current account adjustment process. Finally, the results are extended to measure the relationship in a panel framework using dynamic panel estimators and threshold effects. After controlling for structural breaks the coefficient decreases and exhibits a downward trend. The remaining correlation can be explained through trade openness and country size measures.
Committee: Nicolas Magud, Chairperson, Economics; Stephen Haynes, Member, Economics; Jeremy Piger, Member, Economics; Regina Baker, Outside Member, Political Science
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2008;
Feldstein-Horioka
Current account
Capital mobility
Saving-investment
Threshold effects
Saving
Investment
Economics
Testing saving and investment rates to understand capital mobility and current account solvency
Thesis

Johnson, Erica H.
2010-03-01T22:34:39Z
2010-03-01T22:34:39Z
2009-06
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10226
xii, 150 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Environmental regulations are increasingly subjected to benefit-cost analysis as an aid to decision-making in policy. Economic benefits are most appropriately measured by the tradeoffs of other goods and services that people are willing to make to obtain reductions in risks to their lives and health. The measure of willingness to pay ( WTP ) allows for this comparison. These benefits from risk reductions are likely to vary systematically by characteristics of the individual, including the number and ages of children present in the household, and by the type of health threat under consideration.
In chapter one of this dissertation, I write a brief introduction. In the second chapter, I examine an important methodological issue--the extent of "scenario adjustment" in a Stated Preference ( SP ) conjoint choice experiment in the context of a household survey concerning health risk reductions. Scenario adjustment occurs when respondents assume that a substantive alternative in a choice set, in their own particular case, will be different than the survey instrument describes. This is a potential source of bias in SP research similar to scenario rejection, but harder to detect. I analyze the impact of scenario adjustment on WTP and suggest a possible correction.
In the third chapter, I address the empirical question of patterns in adults' WTP for health risk reductions. I find that demand is influenced by the presence of children, the numbers of children in different age brackets currently in the household, and, for health risks with latency periods, by the prospect of children still being present when a parent's ill health begins or death occurs.
In chapter four, I find systematic differences in WTP for health risk reductions across different types of major health threats, such as Alzheimer's disease versus heart attacks. I also look for evidence of a cancer premium due to the dread factor associated with the prospect of cancer. The health threats considered include chronic heart disease, sudden heart attacks, five types of cancers, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and traffic accidents. In chapter five, I conclude.
This dissertation includes previously unpublished co-authored material.
Committee in charge: Trudy Cameron, Chairperson, Economics;
William Harbaugh, Member, Economics;
Robin McKnight, Member, Economics;
Ronald Mitchell, Outside Member, Political Science
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2009;
Value of a statistical life
Stated preference
Microrisk reduction
Health risks
Willingness to pay
Household structure
Economics
Willingness to pay for health risk reductions: The importance of scenario adjustment, household structure and type of disease
Thesis

Steiger, Laura Christina, 1977-
2010-03-05T00:02:00Z
2010-03-05T00:02:00Z
2009-06
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10241
x, 132 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
This dissertation examines the role that institutions play in the existence of multiple equilibria in models of economic development. In addition, it examines the dynamics of transition between such equilibria. In the first chapter of this dissertation, I build a dynamic model of institutional choice, wherein the government invests in the legal infrastructure in response to the need for the protection of output from appropriation. A unique equilibrium exists only under commitment, not under discretion. This would suggest that a measure of institutional quality must not only consider the extent to which current policies protect property rights but also include the ability of the government to commit to reform in the long run.
The second chapter of this dissertation examines the effect of adaptive learning on stability and transitional dynamics between multiple equilibria in a growth model with human capital externalities. I find that there are two equilibria, one a poverty trap with no education. Only the poverty trap is locally stable under learning. However, productivity shocks are not sufficient to generate transitions between the equilibria. Indeed, productivity shocks must lie below a threshold in order for the economy to escape the poverty trap. These escape paths do not allow the economy to transition to the upper steady state. I propose instead the use of shocks to expectations to permit such a transition.
The third chapter of this dissertation presents an empirical test for the role that human capital and institutions may play in transitions between equilibria by estimating a Markov-switching regression. This methodology allows me to characterize both distinct growth regimes and transitions between them. I explore the effects of time-varying institutional measures and human capital on transition probabilities. I find that political and economic institutions are similar in their effects on transitions arid that the time variation in the institutional measure increases the probability of identifying both miracle growth and stagnation regimes. Furthermore, human capital has a significant effect on switches between miracle growth, stable growth and stagnation.
Committee in charge: George Evans, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Shankha Chakraborty, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Jeremy Piger, Member, Economics;
Yue Fang, Outside Member, Decision Sciences
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2009;
Development
Economic growth
Multiple equilibria
Institutions
Human capital
Adaptive learning
Economics
Economic theory
Three essays on adaptive learning, institutions and multiple equilibria
Thesis

Muller, Edward Nicholas, IV, 1964-
2010-07-29T23:40:16Z
2010-07-29T23:40:16Z
2009-12
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10558
xi, 69 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
In the context of Judeo-Christian theology, I develop what appears to be the first formal economic model to analyze the joint interactions between human actors and a divine actor involved in the production of good works. Human actors are identified as trusting believers, doubting believers, or nonbelievers. The divine actor is perceived as offering four different alternative contracts, an ex ante contract without a penalty, an ex post contract, an ex ante contract with a penalty, and a covenant. Contract types are identified with specific religious affiliations. The amount of good works produced depends on the strength of faith and the contractual choices of the individual, as implied by religious affiliation. I test explicit predictions of the model using individual survey data from a nationally representative sample. My results suggest that (1) ex post contracts "work" (attendance is greater for trusting believers under ex post contracts than under ex ante contracts without a penalty); (2) strength of faith does not matter (good works are equivalent for both trusting and doubting believers under ex ante contracts); (3) penalties do not "work" for believers (attendance is no greater for believers under ex ante contracts with a penalty than under ex ante contracts without a penalty); and (4) covenants "work" (attendance is the same for believers under covenants as under ex ante contracts without a penalty). Tests focus either on the model's counterintuitive predictions for the role of strength of faith for a given contract type or on the role of religious affiliation and contract type for a given strength of faith. The tests suggest substantial power for the model's predictions. Even so, the dissertation emphasizes throughout the limitations of a purely economic analysis of the Judeo-Christian tradition and theology.
Committee in charge: Joe Stone, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Jo Anna Gray, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Larry Singell, Member, Economics;
Jean Stockard, Outside Member, Planning Public Policy & Mgmt
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2009;
Contract
Economics of religion
Religious affiliation
Theology
Good works
God
Self
Judeo-Christian
Christian
Religion
Economics
Is God an economist? An economic inquiry into the relationship between self and God in Judeo-Christian theology
Economic inquiry into the relationship between self and God in Judeo-Christian theology
Thesis

Stiffler, Peter B., 1976-
2010-07-22T00:37:12Z
2010-07-22T00:37:12Z
2010-03
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10533
xiii, 123 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
To complement a varied and growing literature in health economics, this dissertation is conducted in three substantive parts. First, I investigate the effect of public policy on health use and health outcomes, exploiting variation in the generosity of Medicaid eligibility to low income pregnant women across states and over time to identify an effect on common, yet costly, pregnancy complications. I provide new evidence on this important question from a nationally representative sample of hospital discharges for 12 states between 1989 and 2001. Second, I explore heterogeneity in individual demand for health risk reductions. Utilizing individual stated-preference data from matching surveys conducted in both Canada and the United States, I employ the Value of a Statistical Illness Profile framework to investigate differences in average willingness-to-pay (WTP) for health risk reductions across the two different cultures. Although existing literature has allowed for systematic variation in age to explain differences in health care demand, the differences in WTP have not been explained through systematic variation across other socio-demographic characteristics, subjective risks of the diseases in question, or differences between the Canadian and U.S. health care systems. I extend the literature by controlling for an expanded set of observable individual heterogeneity and comment on the degree to which estimates can be applied across cultures to inform varying policy decisions. The third paper studies factors affecting adolescent health risk behavior. Previous study finds that community size and the degree to which social networks are interconnected affect three economically significant outcomes: the frequency of adolescent misbehavior in school, degree of perceived safety in school, and grade performance. Other research has suggested peer effects on smoking behavior and drinking behavior. I investigate the degree to which social connectedness impacts adolescent health, specifically looking at outcomes for drinking and smoking, and the degree to which these effects can be disentangled from more commonly studied "peer effects" in health behavior.
Committee in charge: Trudy Cameron, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Glen Waddell, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Anne van den Nouweland, Member, Economics;
Jessica Greene, Member, Planning Public Policy & Mgmt;
David Levin, Outside Member, Mathematics
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2010;
Medicaid
Health economics
Policy outcomes
Adolescents
Willingness-to-pay
Economics
Public health
Public policy
Medical economics
Teenagers
Health economics: Policy outcomes, individual choice, and adolescent behavior
Thesis

Wozniak, David
2010-12-29T23:27:49Z
2010-12-29T23:27:49Z
2010-06
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10918
x, 133 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Individuals compete against each other in a variety of different settings. In labor markets they compete for promotion; in athletic tournaments they compete for fixed prizes. Important aspects of competitive choices include the probability of success, expected payoffs, the level of ambiguity regarding success, and preferences to compete. I explore the effects of biology and relative performance feedback in regard to these components in three essays.
In the first essay I use a unique experiment design to measure ambiguity aversion, which can be modified to also control for risk aversion. A measure of ambiguity aversion has value as individuals in labor markets have ambiguous signals about their probabilities of success in competition. Consequently this measure may be used in future experiment designs to control for heterogeneous preferences for ambiguity and to test whether ambiguity affects behaviors differently than risk.
Economic experiments have shown that when given the choice between piece rate and winner-take-all tournament style compensation, women are more reluctant than men to choose tournaments. In the second essay I replicate these findings and then show that giving relative performance feedback moves high ability women towards more competitive compensation schemes, moves low ability men towards less competitive compensation schemes, and removes the gender difference in compensation choices. I then examine differences in choices for women, across the menstrual cycle. I find that women in the low-hormone phase of their cycle are less likely to enter tournaments than women in the high-hormone phase. Men are more likely to choose tournaments than women at either stage. There are no significant selection differences between any of these groups after they receive relative performance feedback.
Athletic labor markets provide a unique environment where individuals choose to compete when they have high quality information about their potential competitors. Gender differences for competition have been found to be removed when information about relative abilities is available. In the third essay, to explore the effect of information in a labor market setting, I use a unique data set of approximately 6,000 female and male competitive tennis players during the 2009 season. I focus on whether males and females choose to enter competitive tournaments differently in response to past performance. I find that males continue to compete after performing well in the previous week while females are less likely to compete if they do well. These contrasting behaviors suggest that males and females respond differently to performance feedback.
Committee in charge: William Harbaugh, Chairperson, Economics;
Trudy Cameron, Member, Economics;
Van Kolpin, Member, Economics;
Christopher Minson, Outside Member, Human Physiology
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2010;
Experimental
Labor
Competition
Gender differences
Performance feedback
Experimental economics
Ambiguity
Economics
Experimental psychology
Essays in experimental economics: Examining the effects of ambiguity and competition
Thesis

Friedrich, Silke, 1980-
2010-12-13T17:33:41Z
2010-12-13T17:33:41Z
2010-06
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10899
xii, 116 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
The following essays address the impact of special interest groups on economic decision making processes.
The hypothesis of the first essay is that there exists a dynamic relationship between politicians and lobby groups. Politicians may choose to support "projects" proposed to them by lobbies because they yield clear economic benefits. However, governmental support may continue after these benefits have been exhausted, implying a cost to society and yielding rents to the lobbies. A theoretical framework is developed to model the incentives a government might have to behave in a manner consistent with the hypothesis. In this structure despite the fact that they support projects from which all economic rents have been extracted, politicians are rationally reelected.
In the second chapter I examine how structural changes in the US steel industry affect the voting behavior of House Representatives on trade related bills. The hypothesis is that Representatives face opposing incentives after the PBGC bailed out the pension plans of major steel firms. Representatives have an incentive to vote less for protectionist policies, because the bailout makes the steel firms more competitive. But the Representatives also have an incentive to yield to the demands of affected steel workers, who favor more protection after the bailout. The data set underlying this study is a panel including votes on trade related bills over 9 years. The results obtained using fixed effects techniques support the hypothesis.
In the third chapter, I develop a theoretical model of the dissolution of countries. I model a society with two different groups of citizens, who have different preferences over public goods, to analyze under which political regime the dissolution of these groups into separate countries is most likely. Differentiating between revolutions and civil wars allows me to look at the effects of both forms of political violence. I find that while the threat of a revolution can induce oligarchies to increase the franchise, the threat of a civil war can induce a. country to dissolve peacefully. The model predicts that peaceful dissolution is more likely in democracies, whereas oligarchies are more likely to risk civil war to stay united.
Committee in charge: Christopher Ellis, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Bruce Blonigen, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Glen Waddell, Member, Economics;
Michael Dreiling, Outside Member, Sociology
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2010;
All rights reserved.
Political economy
Lobbyists
Steel industry
Revolution
Civil war
Economics
Political science
Essays in political economy
Thesis

Gaus, Eric
2010-12-03T20:55:54Z
2010-12-03T20:55:54Z
2010-06
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10868
xi, 87 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
The behavior of the macroeconomy and monetary policy is heavily influenced by expectations. Recent research has explored how minor changes in expectation formation can change the stability properties of a model. One common way to alter expectation formation involves agents' use of econometrics to form forecasting equations. Agents update their forecasts based on new information that arises as the economy progresses through time. In this way agents "learn" about the economy.
Previous learning literature mostly focuses on agents using a fixed data size or increasing the amount of data they use. My research explores how agents might endogenously change the amount of data they use to update their forecast equations.
My first chapter explores how an established endogenous learning algorithm, proposed by Marcet and Nicolini, may influence monetary policy decisions. Under rational expectations (RE) determinacy serves as the main criterion for favoring a model or monetary policy rule. A determinant model need not result in stability under an alternative expectation formation process called learning. Researchers appeal to stability under learning as a criterion for monetary policy rule selection.
This chapter provides a cautionary tale for policy makers and reinforces the importance of the role of expectations. Simulations appear stable for a prolonged interval of time but may suddenly deviate from the RE solution. This exotic behavior exhibits significantly higher volatility relative to RE yet over long simulations remains true to the RE equilibrium.
In the second chapter I address the effectiveness of endogenous gain learning algorithms in the presence of occasional structural breaks. Marcet and Nicolini's algorithm relies on agents reacting to forecast errors. I propose an alternative, which relies on agents using statistical information.
The third chapter uses standard macroeconomic data to find out whether a model that has non-rational expectations can outperform RE. I answer this question affirmatively and explore what learning means to the economy. In addition, I conduct a Monte Carlo exercise to investigate whether a simple learning model does, empirically, imbed an RE model. While theoretically a very small constant gain implies RE, empirically learning creates bias in coefficient estimates.
Committee in charge: George Evans, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Jeremy Piger, Co-Chairperson, Economics;
Shankha Chakraborty, Member, Economics;
Sergio Koreisha, Outside Member, Decision Sciences
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2010;
Adaptive learning
New Keynesian
Rational expectations (Economic theory)
Time-varying parameters
Bayesian
Monetary policy
Economic theory
Macroeconomic models with endogenous learning
Thesis

Aksan, Anna-Maria, 1982-
2010-12-03T19:54:07Z
2010-12-03T19:54:07Z
2010-06
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10865
ix, 88 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
This dissertation addresses the high disease burden in developing countries today by examining the role of disease in economic development through its impact on productivity, fertility and human capital investment.
In the second chapter of this dissertation, I model the impact on labor productivity of a change in disease susceptibility that results from intellectual property rights (IPR) reform. I develop a North-South model in which the disease environments differ between the rich and poor countries, and individuals consume innovated health goods to avoid the cost (labor time lost) of getting a disease. Southern welfare is shown to increase with the imposition of IPR protection when health needs in the South differ sufficiently from those in the North, and when health goods are accessible (in terms of adequate health care infrastructure) and effective (in counteracting disease).
In the third chapter of this dissertation, I model the impact of child disease burden on fertility and human capital investment. The fertility response to a decline in child mortality depends on the morbidity effect of the disease, the level of disease burden, and whether prevalence rates or case fatalities decline. Fertility rates follow mortality and morbidity, but since mortality and morbidity do not always move in the same direction, the fertility response may be dampened or non-monotonic. Using a 20-year panel data set on malaria prevalence for 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, I find empirical support for the cases defined by the model; changes in malaria prevalence affect fertility more in non-endemic areas, where cases are more severe and more fatal relative to endemic areas.
Historical and biological evidence suggest a link between (infectious) diseases early in life and (non-infectious) diseases later in life. In Chapter IV I model this link using a three-period overlapping generations model in which childhood disease outcomes affect longevity. Simulations in a general equilibrium framework duplicate the defining characteristics of the epidemiological-demographic transition as it occurred in many industrialized countries: as disease declines parents engage in a quantity-quality tradeoff for children, longevity rises and population declines after an initial jump. This dissertation includes unpublished co-authored material.
Committee in charge: Shankha Chakraborty, Chairperson, Economics;
Bruce Blonigen, Member, Economics;
Peter Lambert, Member, Economics;
Laura Leete, Member, Planriing Public Policy & Mgmt;
Jean Stockard, Outside Member, Planning Public Policy & Mgmt
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2010;
Economic development
Morbidity
Fertility
Quantity-quality tradeoff
Epidemiological transition
Labor productivity
Productivity
Human capital
Economics
Demography
Three Essays on Disease and Economic Development
Thesis

Kim, Chang Yong, 1972-
2011-06-09T23:16:48Z
2011-06-09T23:16:48Z
2010-09
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11226
xii, 132 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Motivated by conflicting prior evidence for exchange rate effects on foreign direct investment (FDI), the first chapter of this dissertation explores theoretical evidence of the exchange rate effect on FDI in terms of different types of FDI. Based on a simple two-country model, I demonstrate that the profit function of a horizontal FDI investor is a decreasing function of the exchange rate, while the profit function for a vertical FDI investor is an increasing function of the exchange rate. This implies that a depreciation of a host country currency depresses horizontal FDI and promotes vertical FDI. Moreover, comparing the FDI investor's intertemporal profit in a simple two-period time frame, I lay out a theoretical basis for a relation between the effects of the exchange rate and the expectations of the exchange rate effect on different types of FDI.
The second chapter of this dissertation examines the empirical evidence for the exchange rate effects on different types of FDI. Using cross-border mergers and acquisitions among 37 countries from 1985 to 2007, I measure horizontal and vertical FDI in 4 different ways, and constructing directional country pairs, I estimate the exchange rate effects on horizontal and vertical FDI by a Poisson and a negative binomial regression with fixed and random effects. The estimation results provide considerable support for the model's predictions of the first chapter.
The third chapter of this dissertation extends the first and second chapters with an analysis of the effect of exchange rate expectations on different types of FDI. I examine 4 different measures of exchange rate expectations. Using a methodology similar to that in the second chapter, the estimation results suggest that the expected exchange rate effects on horizontal and vertical FDI are not very significant. However, the expectations of the exchange rate shed more light on the exchange rate effects on different types of FDI under all of the exchange rate expectation measures. This suggests that the exchange rate is a more influential determinant of the allocation of different types of FDI than the expected exchange rate.
Committee in charge: Bruce Blonigen, Chairperson, Economics;
Jeremy Piger, Member, Economics;
Stephen Haynes, Member, Economics;
Neviana Petkova, Outside Member, Finance
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2010;
FDI
Exchange rates
Horizontal FDI
Expected exchange rate
Foreign direct investment
Vertical FDI
Economics
Investments, Foreign
Foreign exchange rates
The exchange rate effects on different types of foreign direct investment
Thesis

Duquette, Eric Nigel, 1978-
2011-06-17T18:16:10Z
2011-06-17T18:16:10Z
2010-09
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11294
xv, 173 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Economists typically assume that individuals behave in accordance with rational choice theory. In practice, however, individual behavior can deviate from the predictions of models founded upon basic economic theory. The extent to which these deviations are important to individual decision-making in environmental economics, and thus to the development of sound environmental policies, is not fully understood. The objective in this dissertation research is to investigate potential deviations from rational choice behavior in some environmental economics contexts and to identify their relevance to environmental policy.
Chapter I uses a stated-preference survey for the valuation of environmental health-risk reductions in which respondents rate the subjective difficulty of each key choice they are asked to consider. Existing literature identifies many potential categories of biases in the empirically estimated valuation of non-market goods in stated-preference research. One potential source of bias stems from the "objective complexity" of the choice scenario. I find that existing objective measures of choice set complexity do not fully explain subjective choice difficulty ratings in this valuation survey. Instead, subjective difficulty appears to result from the interplay among objective complexity, preferences, and cognitive resource constraints.
In Chapter II, I consider the possible consequences of choice difficulty from the standpoint of neuroeconomics. Within the scope of neuroeconomics, one can identify some neurobiological correlates of economic decision-making activity. I study the apparent effects of choice difficulty on the neurobiological encoding of individuals' value assessments. Information from this study provides a neurological basis for deviations from simple economic theory based on conventional models of rational choice.
Chapter III examines risk perceptions that may influence individuals' decisions to migrate within the U.S. to reduce potential health and economic risks related to climate change. My analysis treats historical patterns of migration among counties as a function of varying spatial and temporal patterns in tornado activity, along with other spatially and temporally delineated variables intended to capture the evolution of subjective perceptions of these tornado risks. Results suggest that the perception of risk from extreme weather events can have a small but statistically discernible effect on migration behavior across sociodemographic groups for both out-migrants and in-migrants.
Committee in charge: Trudy Cameron, Chairperson, Economics;
William Harbaugh, Member, Economics;
Jason Lindo, Member, Economics;
Ulrich Mayr, Outside Member, Psychology
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2010;
Environmental economics
Risk perceptions
Climate change
Migration
Stated-preference surveys
Neuroeconomics
Choice difficulty
Economics
Climatic changes
Choice difficulty and risk perceptions in environmental economics
Thesis

Williams, Peter
2011-06-14T00:22:36Z
2011-06-14T00:22:36Z
2011-03
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11266
xiii, 124 p. : ill. (some col.)
This dissertation emphasizes three aspects of structural change in economic development. Structural change is the process by which the distribution of economic output shifts from one sector to another and is crucial to understanding overall economic growth. The first chapter demonstrates that property rights and the relative value of land in rural credit markets have significant implications for the rate and level of economic development. When borrowers have little net worth, access to credit is limited and the transition from agriculture to industry proceeds at a slower rate. A quantitative model provides estimates of the welfare cost of such frictions. The second chapter argues that differential costs of technology adoption across developing countries can explain the failure of some import-substitution strategies. An analytical model demonstrates the importance of such adoption costs, and an empirical section finds evidence in support of it. The primary result is that import-substituting policies aimed at rapid industrialization may in fact inhibit economic growth, explaining why some countries have experienced lower rates of economic development. The third chapter uses a robust econometric procedure to estimate sector-specific productivity growth for a sample of OECD countries. It finds that the sources of productivity growth vary widely across countries. Productivity growth is not concentrated in industrial sectors alone but can also result from advances in service sectors.
Committee in charge: Dr. Shankha Chakraborty, Chair;
Dr. Chris Ellis, Member;
Dr. Bruce Blonigen, Member;
Dr. Jean Stockard, Outside Member
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2011;
Economics
Structural change
Development
Rural credit markets
Import substitution
Technology adoption
Productivity growth
Structural change and economic development
Thesis

Severe, Sean P.
2011-09-07T23:29:14Z
2011-09-07T23:29:14Z
2011-06
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11554
xii, 114 p. : ill.
The banking sector has been extensively analyzed in economics. On the microeconomic side, research has advanced our understanding of banks and the inverse relationship between market power and bank production. The macroeconomic side of research has focused on the transmission of monetary policy, and it is understood that the financial system, including banks, plays an integral role in transmitting monetary policy decisions to economic variables such as investment, consumption, and GDP. There is limited understanding, however, about how market power and bank concentration affects the transmission of monetary policy. The main focus of this dissertation is to address this gap in the literature and is achieved by three contributions. First, I develop a theory of banking behavior that accounts for competition and monetary policy. I empirically test the theory and show that banking concentration dampens the impact of monetary policy on lending activity in the short-run. My second contribution involves building a theoretical model with these short-run lending effects incorporated into an endogenous growth model that allows agents, banks, and the central bank to interact. This model shows how short-run lending is tied to growth. Again, monetary policy is less effective in markets with higher concentration. The last contribution is made by empirically testing the second contribution. The empirical findings are consistent with both the first and second contributions; banking markets with less competition adversely affect growth and also diminish the long-run impact of monetary policy.
Committee in charge: Dr. Mark Thoma, Co-Chair;
Dr. Wesley Wilson, Co-Chair;
Dr. Shankha Chakraborty, Member;
Dr. Larry Dann, Outside Member
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2011;
Economics
Bank concentration
Macroeconomics
Monetary policy effectiveness
Monetary Policy Issues Arising From Bank Competition
Thesis

Sipic, Toni, 1981-
2011-09-27T23:40:05Z
2011-09-27T23:40:05Z
2011-06
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11581
xix, 187 p. : ill. (some col.)
In Chapter II I analyze eco-labeling in the tourism industry, specifically the impact of the Blue Flag label for marinas and beaches on prices of marina slip rentals, weekly sailboat charter prices and hotel accommodation prices. The principal findings include that Blue Flag certified marinas appear to enjoy an average premium between 6.6% and 22% for their daily slip rental prices, between 40% and 49% for their monthly slip rental prices, and 23% for their yearly slip rental prices. Within the sailboat charter sector, vessels whose home marina is awarded the Blue Flag on average carry a price premium between 14% and 20% on a weekly sailboat rental. When it comes to hotel accommodation, hotels managing a Blue Flag certified beach enjoy a price premium between 45% and 270%. In Chapter III I employ a dataset on the global frequency of climate-change-related natural disasters to explain the probability of the start and occurrence, in a given year, of civil war and civil war durations during the last half of the 20th century. Extreme cold events are found to have a measurable positive effect on the probability of civil war starting in the affected countries, previous years' extreme heat events have a positive effect on the probability of a civil war occurring in a given year, and droughts have a positive effect on civil war duration. These findings can be used by policymakers as they contemplate climate change mitigation policies. In Chapter IV I investigate the determinants of ratification delay of a major oil pollution international environmental agreement, MARPOL. Importantly, I analyze the impact of oil spills, as well as various country characteristics, on the time a country takes to ratify MARPOL. The major contribution lies in the examination of impacts of environmental pollution events on international political decision making. I find that the amount of oil spilled decreases the time to ratify MARPOL. This is the first study that seeks to address this issue in a quantitative fashion. The results should inform policymakers by giving them insight into relevant determinants of legislative delay in ratifying treaties.
Committee in charge: Dr. Trudy Ann Cameron, Chairperson; Dr. Wesley W. Wilson, Member; Dr. Benjamin Hansen, Member; Dr. Ronald Mitchell, Outside Member
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2011;
Environmental economics
Climate change
Disasters
Eco-labeling
Marine pollution
Political economy
Climatic changes
Political economy of environmental disasters and voluntary approaches in environmental policy
Thesis

Ryan, Mark Joseph, 1978-
2012-03-28T16:14:31Z
2012-03-28T16:14:31Z
2011-09
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12095
xiii, 230 p. : ill. (some col.)
I develop a model in which a representative consumer selects an affordable consumption bundle, not as a single choice, but as the end result of a series of smaller, incremental purchase decisions. If the array of such incremental choices facing the consumer is sufficiently complex relative to the consumer's computational abilities, then the consumer may choose to employ a simplifying heuristic or rule-of-thumb to guide her behavior. I demonstrate the existence of a simple and well-defined example of such a strategy, based upon a satisficing decision rule. I further show that in the strategic setting defined by the interaction between consumers and firms that compete in prices, this satisficing strategy can form part of a Nash equilibrium, despite being ex ante only boundedly rational. The use of this satisficing demand strategy fundamentally alters the nature of price competition between firms (relative to the standard Bertrand model), changing the shape of the firm best response functions.
The use of a satisficing strategy alters the incentives of firms, and these altered firm incentives lead to pricing behavior which has the effect of rationalizing the satisficing consumption strategy, so that a truly novel class of Nash equilibria in price-competing markets can be shown to exist under certain conditions.
We explore the nature of this new class of equilibria, and find that equilibrium prices may be higher than those which would be obtained in the standard Bertrand case. In general, demand curves for each distinct good will have a kinked shape, similar to those found in 1939 papers by both Sweezy and Hall & Hitch. The Nash equilibrium profile will involve the kink in each demand curve coinciding with the equilibrium price for the corresponding good. The equilibrium price vector will therefore be robust to "small" fluctuations in cost (since marginal revenue is discontinuous at the equilibrium price), and under certain conditions, we find that prices may be upwardly flexible but downwardly rigid. We make an argument that the main results of the paper generalize from a representative agent setting to one with a population of heterogeneous consumers.
Committee in charge: Dr. Van Kolpin， Chairperson；
Dr. Christopher J. Ellis， Member；
Dr. Jeremy Piger， Member；
Dr. Renee Irvin， Outside Member
en_US
University of Oregon
University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Economics, Ph. D., 2011;
rights_reserved
Economic theory
Social sciences
Consumer behavior
Bounded rationality
Consumer theory
Microeconomic theory
Satisficing
A Satisficing Model of Consumer Behavior
Thesis

Ellis, Christopher
Groll, Thomas
Groll, Thomas
2012-10-24T18:51:41Z
2012-10-24T18:51:41Z
2012
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12315
This dissertation addresses the economic behavior and political influence activities by lobbyists today by examining the existence, mechanisms, and welfare implications of commercial lobbying activities and their optimal regulation.
In the second chapter of this dissertation, a novel model of lobbying is presented that explains the behavior of commercial lobbying firms (such as the so-called K-Street lobbyists of Washington, D.C.). In contrast to classical special interest groups, commercial lobbying firms represent a variety of clients and are not directly affected by policy outcomes. They are hired by citizens to advocate policy proposals to politicians that are beneficial to the citizens but also have social implications. Using a model with a market for lobbying services and agency relationships between lobbyists and policymakers it can be shown why commercial lobbying firms exist. It can also be shown that self-interested policymakers, who observe lobbying activities, may employ commercial lobbying firms in a socially inefficient manner.
In the third chapter of this dissertation, the analysis examines the effective regulation of commercial lobbying activities and focuses on the endogenous choice of regulatory institutions. The analysis uses the model of commercial lobbying presented in the second chapter. I derive the institutional conditions under which a market outcome can be first-best as well as the conditions under which a first-best institution will be self-stable. One result is that current regulations may fail to be effective and cannot limit lobbyists' and policymakers' incentives to substitute financial contributions for the socially beneficial acquisition of information. Additional results explain why endogenous reforms may or may not occur.
In the fourth chapter of this dissertation, the analysis uses a dynamic model of commercial lobbying with lobbyists who undertake unobservable investigation efforts and promise financial contributions. It is shown that repeated relationships with lobbyists simplify a policymaker's information and contracting problem and help policymakers to escape a "cheap talk" lobbying game. The welfare implications of these interactions depend on whether the policymakers' information or contracting problem predominates. Further, the policymaker's information problem may actually improve welfare outcomes. Similarly, financial contributions may also improve welfare outcomes.
This dissertation includes unpublished co-authored material.
en_US
University of Oregon
All Rights Reserved.
Commercial Lobbying
Dynamic Lobbying
Financial Contributions
Information Acquisition
Institutional Design
Lobbying
The Economics of Commercial Lobbying
Electronic Thesis or Dissertation

Cameron, Trudy
Taylor, Matthew
Taylor, Matthew
2012-10-26T04:01:39Z
2012-10-26T04:01:39Z
2012
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12401
I collect data on subjects' information acquisition during real and hypothetical risky choices using process-tracing software called Mouselab. I also measure subjects' cognitive ability using the cognitive reflective test (CRT). On average, measured risk preferences are not significantly different across real and hypothetical settings. However, cognitive ability is inversely related to risk aversion when choices are hypothetical, but it is unrelated when the choices are real. This interaction between cognitive ability and hypothetical setting is consistent with the notion that some individuals, specifically higher-ability individuals, treat hypothetical choices as "puzzles" and may help explain why some studies find that subjects indicate that they are more tolerant of risk when they make hypothetical choices than when they make real choices. On average, subjects demonstrate a similar degree of consistency across settings, and there are also no significant differences across settings in the amount of time subjects take to make a choice, the amount of information they acquire, or how they distribute their attention.
I also find evidence to suggest that subjects acquire information in a manner consistent with the implicit calculation of expected utility. Specifically, individuals do not merely make choices "as if" they are integrating probabilities and outcomes, it appears that they actually are. Moreover, as they progress through a series of choices in a commonly used risk preference elicitation method, their information acquisition becomes progressively more consistent with integration models. Finally, on average, individuals appear to acquire information in real and hypothetical settings in similar ways.
en_US
University of Oregon
All Rights Reserved.
cognitive ability
hypothetical bias
information acquisition
process tracing
risk aversion
Risk Aversion and Information Acquisition Across Real and Hypothetical Settings
Electronic Thesis or Dissertation

Cameron, Trudy Ann
Vander Naald, Brian
Vander Naald, Brian
2012-10-26T04:07:01Z
2012-10-26T04:07:01Z
2012
http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12453
Benefit-cost analysis of environmental policies typically focuses on benefits to human health and well-being. When it comes to humans' willingness to pay (WTP) for improvements in the quality of life for other species, however, the evidence is limited. We argue that the other-species morbidity-reduction component of WTP should be calculated net of any "outrage" component associated with the cause of the harm. This net WTP is likely to be correlated with the premium that people are willing to pay for chicken products from birds for which the quality of life has been enhanced by improved animal welfare measures. This paper uses a conjoint choice stated preference survey to reveal the nature of systematic heterogeneity in preferences for "humanely raised" versus "conventionally raised" chicken. We also use latent class analysis to distinguish between two classes of people - those who are willing to pay a premium for humanely raised chicken and those who are not.
Proposition 21 on California's 2010 ballot concerned an $18 annual surcharge on vehicles to support state parks. Prop 21 failed, implying 25% of these parks risk closure. Voting patterns at the Census tract level depend on gross price, incomes, age profiles, political ideology, environmental preferences, the availability of local substitutes, and park salience. We simulate counterfactual scenarios under which Prop 21 might have passed and use county-level hold-out samples to illustrate the predictive ability of our model.
The California Air Resources Board is slowly phasing out perchloroethylene as the main input in dry cleaning operations in the state. Exploiting differential implementation of this regulation between SCAQMD (South Coast Air Quality Management District) and the rest of the state, we examine the effect of this regulation on the propensity for dry cleaning businesses to exit the industry. We find that regulation has encouraged early exit from the industry in some cases. We also find that regulation decreased ambient concentrations of perchloroethylene in the atmosphere.
This dissertation contains both published and unpublished co-authored material. It also contains an appendix for chapter II as a supplemental file.
en_US
University of Oregon
All Rights Reserved.
Essays in Environmental and Public Economics
Electronic Thesis or Dissertation